Karachi becomes 31st world’s ‘most dangerous city’

KARACHI (92 News) – As Pakistan is making progress in its war against terror, the violence has dropped in Karachi, a city of more than 20 million on the Arabian Sea. Just three years ago, Karachi was the sixth most dangerous city in the world. Today it stands at number 31 — and falling.

According to a report released by a British magazine, in 2013 there were 2,789 killings in Karachi. In the first 11 months of 2016 there were 592. In 2013 there were 51 terrorist bomb blasts. Up to late November this year, there were two.

Three years ago, Karachi suffered from an orgy of kidnapping for ransom. There were 78 cases in 2013, rising to 110 the following year. This year, there have been 19.

Some 533 extortion cases were reported in 2013; in 2016, only 133. Sectarian killing is sharply down: while 38 members of the Shia minority (who are brutally targeted in Pakistan) were killed in 2013, that figure was down by two thirds in 2016.

The report further stated that the change can be dated to a special cabinet meeting called by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Karachi in September 2013. At this meeting Sharif called an end to Pakistan’s culture of violence.